Google takes YouTube off Amazon Echo show device

On Tuesday, the Verge reported that Google dropped support for youtubeYouTube on Amazon echo show device. Amazon echo show is the first echo device that features a touchscreen, which was debuted this summer. Both companies issued statements against each other. Amazon responded to this by saying that Google had blocked YouTube on echo show without any explanation. In a statement shared with the GeekWire, Amazon said

Google made a change today around 3 pm. YouTube used to be available to our shared customers on Echo Show. As of this afternoon, Google has chosen to no longer make YouTube available on Echo Show, without explanation and without notification to customers. There is no technical reason for that decision, which is disappointing and hurts both of our customers.

Whereas Google responded to this by saying that the Echo show provided a broken user experience. In a statement shared with the Verge, Google said that

Amazon’s implementation of YouTube on the Echo Show violates our terms of service, creating a broken user experience.

The reason why Google said that echo show provided a broken experience is that although echo show could play youtube videos it did not provide the user with all the functions such as the ability to subscribe to channels or serve up video recommendations. Google further added in their statement that

We’ve been in negotiations with Amazon for a long time, working towards an agreement that provides great experiences for customers on both platforms.

However, it is not the first that the tech giants have removed rival products from their platforms. In 2013, Google ordered Microsoft to remove its unofficial home-made YouTube app from the Windows Phone store, despite not providing an official app.

It said Microsoft’s app violated its terms of service by letting people download videos and hiding advertisements.

In 2016, Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos said the retail giant had stopped selling the Apple TV video-streaming box because the two companies had not agreed “acceptable business terms” to include Amazon’s Prime Video service on the device.

As android authority stated earlier this week that Google and Amazon have a “funny relationship with each other” with certain services not available on their competing platforms. For example, Amazon, which has its own Fire TV streaming stick, does not sell Google’s Chromecast on its website. Amazon Prime Video also does not include support for Chromecast.